George Clooney: “I’m A Very Good Diaper Guy”

Alongside his Suburbicon costars Matt Damon and Julianne Moore, Academy Award-winning actor-director George Clooney covers the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter and opens up about family life with wife Amal Clooney and their 3-month-old twins Ella and Alexander.

On deciding to have children: “It had never been part of my DNA. We didn’t plan on it. We never talked about it until after we were married, which is funny. There was an assumption that we didn’t want them. We just felt we’d gotten very lucky, both of us, and we should share whatever good luck we’ve got. It would seem self-centered to just have that belong to us.”

On the shock of having twins naturally: “[The doctor] goes, ‘Well, there’s one.’ And I said, ‘Great.’ And then he goes, ‘And there’s the second one.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ We just sat there, staring at that piece of paper they give you, and I kept thinking there was a mistake.”

On becoming a father: “It was wild. You know, everything is conceptual until it’s real. It’s like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to be parents, yeah.’ And all of a sudden you go: ‘Holy s—. I’m a parent!’ The first thing you think is, ‘I hope I don’t screw this up.’ I mean, look, we are all responsible for things in life, and Amal and I are responsible for each other in a way — we look out for one another and we care about one another. But you are really responsible for two kids. I want them to be happy. I want them to have a sense of humor. I want them to be interested in things. I want them to be compassionate about other people’s plights. Because that’s the thing, you know? You have to have some sort of empathy.”